Activists push for independent team to solve Munir's death

BINTANGNEWS.com –A human rights
watchdog urged the government to establish an independent team to solve the
murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib in the wake of the 12th anniversary
of his death, activists said on Tuesday.

Despite the
perpetrator having been sentenced, the mastermind behind it still
remains a mystery, executive director of human rights group Imparsial Al Araf
said.

"The revelation
of Munir's murder case must be a pivotal agenda in President Joko
"Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's administration that
had once declared to solve past human rights violations," he said.

Moreover, Imparsial
also pushed for the government to reveal along with a follow-up the summarized
report of the fact-finding team established by then President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
in 2004.

Gufron Mabruri of
Imparsial said the settlement and final revelation in Munir's case would
deliver a strong message of protection for human rights defenders across the
country.

Munir, a prominent
human rights activist and the founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence (Kontras) died after being poisoned aboard an airplane from
Indonesia to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004.

Former Garuda pilot
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in 2008
for the murder but was released on parole in 2014 after only serving six years
of his sentence. Meanwhile, former deputy chief of National Intelligence Agency
(BIN) Muchdi Purwoprandjono, who was accused of being involved in the case, was
acquitted of all charges in late 2011.